The Agrarian Transformation Society (SAT) ‘El Jable’ has requested in a press release that the Tax on Imports and Deliveries of Goods in the Canary Islands (AIEM) be applied to sweet potatoes. This is a tax that has, among its objectives, to compensate Canary Island farmers for the disadvantages they suffer as a consequence of the remoteness, insularity, and small size of the island farms, compared to agricultural products coming from the mainland or third countries.
Currently, wine, potatoes, and cheeses produced outside the Canary Islands are taxed with this tax, applying a percentage that can range from 5% to 15%. The establishment of this tax is a way to protect local production to **ensure the maintenance of agricultural activity** in the Canary Islands.
According to SAT El Jable, the reasons justifying the application of the AIEM to sweet potatoes "are based on the evolution experienced by the crop, both with respect to its area and its production during the 2020/2024 period".
This first graph shows a sharp decrease in the land dedicated to this crop, dropping from 400 hectares to just over 200 hectares. In other words, in the short period of five years, almost half of its surface area has been abandoned. This translates into an evident loss of landscape, which has enormous repercussions in Lanzarote, given that its agricultural landscapes are one of its main tourist attractions. And, what is even more worrying for island territories like ours, is that this reduction in agricultural land causes an alarming decrease in our levels of food self-sufficiency.
This second graph shows the evolution of sweet potatoes harvested in the Canary Islands compared to imported sweet potatoes. It highlights the significant increase in imports, which have gone from 786,119 kg in 2020 to 1,989,638 kg in 2024, in stark contrast to local production, which has drastically decreased from 4,582,000 kg to 2,527,500 kg in the same period.
Ultimately, in 2024, imports accounted for 44% of the total volume of sweet potatoes marketed in the Canary Islands, which ultimately amounted to 4,517,185 kilograms.
This situation, says SAT El Jable, "casts an excessive external food dependence subject to external factors beyond our decision-making capacity, such as: the increase in fuel prices, the high cost of inputs, or the volatility of global markets".
Among third countries, Egypt stands out as particularly concerning, where its exports to the Canary Islands have gone from 0 kilos in 2020 to 512,461 kilos in 2024, according to ISTAC data. This explosive growth occurs under labor, environmental, and phytosanitary conditions practiced in crops that do not observe the European standards that Canary production does comply withFor all these reasons, "the Canarian farmer is forced to go to market with clearly asymmetrical and profoundly unfair rules that subject him to unequal competition and prevent him from obtaining minimal profitability from the sale of his crops."
Furthermore, they point out that another consideration should be added, which is that the degree of compliance with the Ministerial Order of March 12, 1987, is unknown, which establishes the phytosanitary requirements for horticultural products (including sweet potatoes) entering the Canary Islands. The understaffing of border inspection posts has diminished their effectiveness. This could open the door to the entry of products that are not subject to the same levels of requirement as those harvested on our islands.
"This is a dynamic that must be reversed if we want to avoid the loss of another crop. In our collective memory are tomatoes, onions, legumes, and potatoes. Crops that show a trend of evident decline, if not inevitable disappearance," they point out
"All of the above leads to an obvious conclusion: maintaining sweet potato cultivation in the Canary Islands is a strategic necessity from a food policy standpoint. The implementation of an effective protection measure would be the application of the AIEM to imported sweet potatoes, as it would make it possible to recover local production and even increase it. This would allow for strengthening self-sufficiency, moving towards true food sovereignty, and in turn safeguarding the islands' food security against market fluctuations. Furthermore, even if only by a small percentage, it would contribute to the much-repeated, but insufficiently implemented, economic diversification of the Canary Islands," they conclude.